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Hands-on Lab: Image Generation in Action with Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Designer(Optional)

Estimated time: 45 minutes

Welcome to the hands-on lab image generation in action with Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Designer.

What are AI image generation tools?

AI image generation tools are programs that use advanced technology to create or improve images without human intervention. These tools can create lifelike images, improve blurry pictures, remove unwanted elements, and create images based on written descriptions. Popular AI image generation tools like Microsoft Copilot, DALL-E, and StyleGAN are widely used in art, design, and research to make image-making process easier and create exceptional visuals.

This lab focuses on generative AI's image-generation capabilities. You will examine and explore the Microsoft Copilot/Microsoft Designer and use it to generate image captions and create thumbnails from textual descriptions.

Learning Objectives

After completing this lab, you will be able to:

  • Explore the image-generation capabilities of generative AI using Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Designer
  • Generate an image caption using Microsoft Copilot
  • Create thumbnail images representing larger images using Microsoft Copilot
  • Generate an social media post using Microsoft Designer

Note: These exercises are optional, as using the Microsoft Copilot/Designer requires signing in with your email account.

Exercise 1: Generate image caption using Microsoft Copilot

In the digital age, image captions have gained even more importance due to their role in improving accessibility for people with visual impairments. Screen readers and other assistive technologies can read these captions aloud, allowing individuals who cannot see the image to understand its content. Generative AI models simplify the task of predicting the captions for the given image.

In this exercise, you will generate the caption for an image using GPT- powered Microsoft Copilot.

What is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is an LLM-based (large language model) chatbot developed by Microsoft. It can cite sources, create poems, and write songs.

Copilot uses generative AI technology (Microsoft Prometheus model) built upon OpenAI's GPT-4 foundational large language model, which has been fine-tuned using supervised and reinforcement learning techniques. Copilot's conversational interface style resembles ChatGPT's. The chatbot can communicate using numerous languages and dialects.

The free version of Microsoft Copilot includes the standard Copilot chatbot.

Microsoft Copilot is oriented toward generating images from your ideas that enhance your design or even create clever caption and hashtag options.

Let's generate captivating captions for the images using Microsoft Copilot's GPT model.

Step 1: Select the image for caption generation

Select the image for which you want to generate the caption.

Step 2: Launch Microsoft Copilot

  1. Click Microsoft Copilot to launch it.

    Note: If you cannot access Microsoft Copilot by clicking the link, copy the following URL and paste it into a browser.

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  1. https://copilot.microsoft.com/
Microsoft Copilot-Home page

Step 3: Sign in/Sign up and launch Microsoft Copilot

Note: Signing up or signing in is not mandatory when using Microsoft Copilot. However, it is recommended that you sign up or sign in with your Microsoft account to ask multiple questions and have longer conversations with the chatbot. Using Microsoft Copilot, you can generate unlimited images for free. You will just require a Microsoft account, which is free to set up.

  1. Select Sign in at the top of the page.
Microsoft Copilot-Home page 2
  1. If you have an email associated with Microsoft, you can sign in directly using that email.
Microsoft-Sign in page

Note: After clicking Next, you may receive an authentication code in your email, which you must enter when signing in.

  1. If you do not have an email account, then you can select Create one! and then select Get a new email address to set up a new account.
Microsoft-Create account page
  1. Fill in your credentials and follow the steps to create an email. After creating the email, sign in using your credentials to use the Microsoft Copilot platform.
Microsoft-Email creation steps
  1. After signing in, you may need to answer some onboarding questions like your name and you preffered voice for ineteraction.Once you complete these steps you will reach the Copilot home page.
Microsoft Copilot-Home page
  1. To generate images and captions, type your prompt or upload the images in the 'Message Copilot' field.
Microsoft Copilot-Prompt typing space

Step 4: Generate the caption for the selected image

  1. Insert the image for which you want to generate the caption by clicking the Add an image button on the left side of the prompt (Message Copilot) field.
Microsoft Copilot-image selection
  1. After uploading the image, you will see a small thumbnail of the image below the prompt field. Now, within the prompt field, you can type the message to generate the caption.
    For example, 
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  1. Generate a caption for this image.
Microsoft Copilot-Image uploaded and message written
  1. Now click the Submit button, and the system generates the caption within seconds, as shown in the screenshots below.
Microsoft Copilot-Click Submit Microsoft Copilot-Caption generated
  1. You can also regenerate the response by simply typing Regenerate response in the prompt field.
Microsoft Copilot-Regenerating response
  1. Now, you must try generating captions for three images of your choice using the Microsoft Copilot.

Exercise 2: Create small thumbnail images representing larger images using Microsoft Copilot

Thumbnails are small images that provide a preview of larger content, such as videos, images, or documents. This visual preview improves navigation, enhances the user experience, aids content organization, and contributes to marketing efforts across various digital platforms.

In this exercise, you will use the Microsoft Copilot to create a small thumbnail image representing a larger image.

Let's generate a thumbnail representing the images or videos using the Microsoft Copilot Image Creator tool.

Step 1: Sign in/Sign up and launch Microsoft Copilot

To sign in/sign up and launch Microsoft Copilot , follow steps 2 and 3 in Exercise 1: Generate image caption using Microsoft Copilot.

Step 2: Exercise the thumbnail generation

  1. To create the thumbnail for your video, type the prompt in the prompt field.
    For example, 
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  1. Create a thumbnail for a video based on the Importance of IBM certification.
Microsoft Copilot-Typed prompt in prompt field
  1. Now, click Submit, and you will get the output.
Microsoft Copilot -Click Submit
  1. Use the Download option to download the image.
Microsoft Copilot -Thumbnail modification options
  1. Now, you must try generating three thumbnails using Microsoft Copilot.

Exercise 3: Generate social media post using Microsoft Designer

A social media post is any content shared on various social medis platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, designed to engage, inform, or entertain an audience. It plays a key role in building connections, sharing updates, and influencing conversations. Generative AI streamlines the creation of visually appealing posts, such as social media posters, by automating design elements, crafting engaging captions, and personalizing content, making the entire process faster, more efficient, and tailored to audience preferences.

In this exercise, you will generate a social media post using Microsoft Designer.

What is Microsoft Designer ?

Microsoft Designer is an AI-powered graphic design tool developed by Microsoft, aimed at simplifying the process of creating professional-quality designs for both personal and business use. It is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of tools and leverages advanced artificial intelligence, particularly from DALL·E, an image generation model created by OpenAI, to help users design visuals quickly and easily.

Step 1: Launch Microsoft Designer

  1. Click Microsoft Designer to launch it.

    Note: If you cannot access Microsoft Designer by clicking the link, copy the following URL and paste it into a browser.

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  1. https://designer.microsoft.com/
Microsoft Designer-Home page

Step 2: Sign in and launch Microsoft Designer

To sign in and launch Microsoft Designer , use the same ID used to log in to Microsoft Copilot in Exercise 1 and 2.

Step 3: Generate the Social Media Posts

  1. To generate the social media post for your social account, search for the Social Posts option using the arrow key.
Microsoft Designer-Arrow Key

2.Click on the Social Posts icon

Social Post

3.To create the social post, type the prompt in the Description field.
For example, 

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  1. Create a social media post highlighting the significance of IBM certification.

4.Choose the Size option. You'll see several size options available. Select Landscape and then click Generate.

Generate

Note: If you want to create a post using your own images, you can upload them by clicking on the "Images" option.

5.You will see the output below the input options.

Social Post Output

Now, you must try generating three social posts using Microsoft Designer.

Summary

Congratulations! You just completed the hands-on lab image generation in action with Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Designer

In this lab, you explored the image-generation capabilities of generative AI. You also learned how to generate captivating captions for images and how to create thumbnail images using Microsoft Copilot and how to generate social media posts using Microsoft Designer.

Author(s)

Gagandeep Singh